Family Portrait Photographer

Bart Harris Creates Lasting Family Portraits

My Experience as a Family Portrait Photographer

I have been creating family portraits for more than forty years. I made one of my first portraits at the age of thirteen for a high school classmate’s parents. The portrait was of a teenage friend with his mom, dad and pet parakeet. My first backdrop was a white bed-sheet and for lighting I used two little reflector lights purchased at a hardware store, primitive but effective. I remember realizing it would take a load of patience to wait for the right moment to press the shutter release, and strong direction on my part, to get three people and a bird to look just right. I was fourteen years old at the time.

A large number of my early freelance newspaper and magazine assignments featured North Shore families, either in their beautiful homes or gardens. While I create more family portraits in my Roscoe Village portrait studio than on location, I prefer the outdoor environment of a park setting, garden, nature or interesting architecture as the setting for a meaningful, interesting family photograph. Even when the background is soft focus, the ambience of a beautiful setting contributes greatly to a beautiful family portrait. The light is extremely important so I prefer to create outdoor portraits either with early morning or late afternoon light.

My Digital Portrait Photography of Families

My love affair with digital photography began in early 1995. The immediacy of seeing images as I shoot makes it it ideal for photographing families and it allows me to be more “painterly” in my approach. Before the digital age, photographers never knew for sure what they had captured. It is much easier to be a professional photographer today because you see each photograph as you shoot. However, with decades of experience, I have gained substantial knowledge about exposure, color, contrast, composition and lighting that can’t be learned with a couple of classes in photography and a few years of looking through a viewfinder, The absolute beauty of digital photography has been the freedom I have gained to be more artful and creative. My wealth of technical knowledge and experience allows me to concentrate on a family’s comfort in front of the camera in order to capture the love and interaction between parents and children. Please keep in mind that I am aware that most photographers use digital photography today, but almost 20 years ago, I was the first and only professional photographer to work this way. I understood in the early days of digital photography, that it made a more artistic approach possible. I know it seems simple now, but the ability to see what you have captured as you shoot, is the greatest benefit of digital photography to a pro and I was the first to understand this simple tenet.

My Family Portrait Photography Rates

I keep my rates reasonable and my approach when creating a portrait of your family is nurturing, whether in my studio or in your home. I am a father and granddad who loves his family, and I get great pleasure when I make a portraits for other parents who share my pride of their own families. I offer my own custom prints on fine art papers and I include any Photoshop retouching necessary as well, at no additional cost.

Feel free to call me if you have questions or to discuss or schedule your family’s portrait session. It’s fun to photograph kids as they mature and to see their development. Very few people enjoy their work as much as I do. Truth be told, for me, photography has never been work.